TransferWise slashes cost of sending money overseas to Asia

Woman on laptop sending money to Asia

Sending money overseas just got even more competitive, with TransferWise announcing a series of price cuts this week for Australians transferring money to Asia. 

TransferWise Australia users can now save up to 23% in fees when moving funds to 10 different Asian countries, including China, India and Thailand.

The exact savings will depend on the destination and amount sent. For instance, AUD 1,000 transfers to China cost 13% less than before, which means you would pay $13.11 instead of $14.95. Meanwhile, the cost of sending AUD 1,000 to Sri Lanka has fallen by a much larger 23%, reducing the fee from $9.72 to $7.52.

Below is a full breakdown of TransferWise’s fee reductions:

Table showing TransferWise's fee reductions to 10 different Asian countries
TransferWise's fee reductions for transfers to Asia. Supplied by TransfeWise.

“As more Aussie consumers and businesses choose TransferWise when they send money overseas, we become more efficient and that means we can pass the savings back on to them,” TransferWise Australia’s country manager, Tim Cameron said. 

On the efficiency front, TransferWise has also rolled out near instant transfers for Thailand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Japan. In other words, if you’re making transfers to those countries money could reach your recipient in just 40 seconds or less. 

And thanks to a recent partnership between TransferWise and neobank Up, these offers are available to Up customers as well.

TransferWise vs the Big 4: what’s the price difference?

TransferWise says that unlike banks, it uses the ‘real’ mid-market exchange rate, without adding markups on top. The result is more competitive and transparent pricing.

For instance, Aussies sending AUD 1,000 to India can expect their recipients to receive INR 1,985 more with Transferwise, than the average big four bank rate, according to Mozo’s own number crunch.* 

Besides Transferwise, there are a number of other specialist international money transfer (IMT) providers in Australia including TorFX, OFX and WorldFirst that also offer better rates than the banks. 

Using the same example as above (an AUD 1,000 transfer to India), you could save INR 2,257 just by going with the average IMT specialist rate instead of the average big four bank rate.* 

If you’re looking for more information on how to send money to a specific country, head on over to our IMT country guides section.

Or if you’re ready to make a transfer, our international money transfers hub lets you compare today’s exchange rate offers for a range of different currencies including Chinese Yuan (CNY), Indian Rupee (INR) and Indonesian Rupiah (IDR).

*Mozo calculations as of 30 October 2020.